Future film ratings in the Republic may encompass alerts regarding self-harm or harassment portrayed in films. The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO), which celebrated its centenary in the previous year, has incorporated warnings regarding self-harm and bullying in its preliminary guidelines that are currently open for public discussion.
People are encouraged to contribute towards the categorisation of films and the advisories related to subjects such as sex and violence that should be incorporated prior to the start of movies. The drafted guidelines took into consideration a Behaviour & Attitudes survey which investigated public opinion on the appropriateness of existing film rating schemes.
The study specifically focused on parental feedback regarding the depiction of young individuals on screen and the role of context in film classification. It was concluded that among adolescents, sexual violence, suicide, and the representation of youth are areas where guidance is critically needed, especially content that can potentially affect mental health.
The revised guidelines aim to address these findings by broadening the ‘drugs’ category. Now renamed as ‘dangerous behaviour,’ it will potentially encompass self-harming tendencies, drug misuse, criminal acts, and antisocial behaviour.
Dr Ciarán Kissane, the Director of film classification, expressed the intention to categorise all these under ‘dangerous behaviour’ instead of creating individual categories for each. Existing classification brackets, which include G (general), PG (parental guidance), 12A (appropriate for under-12s with parental accompaniment), 15A (appropriate for under-15s, given they are accompanied by a parent), 16 (not appropriate for children under 16) and 18 (not appropriate for anyone under the age of 18), will continue to be followed.
The era of stringent film censorship by the Irish Film Censor’s Office has long passed with the last banned film in Ireland recorded in 2005. Nowadays, with an unlimited content pool available online, such prohibitive measures are neither considered doable nor desirable. In the last year, 75% of all films were deemed appropriate for the 15A rating and below, while just a mere 2% were rated unsuitable for viewers under 18.
The Man Called Otto, a film featuring Tom Hanks, was subjected to the most public complaints, with a tally of seven out of 26 registered complaints with IFCO. According to IFCO’s annual report, Barbie and Oppenheimer stood out as the biggest cinema successes in Ireland last year.
“Barbie raked in close to €10 million in Ireland’s box office and Oppenheimer accrued nearly €6.5 million. The remaining top 10 list featured big-budget cinema releases.”